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Russia is still banned from the Olympics, but hundreds of its athletes are still preparing to compete in Beijing.
215 Russian athletes, as their compatriots did at the Tokyo Games will be again Compete under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee. The Russian flag and anthem are also prohibited.
The ROC flag has white, blue and red waves on them, as well as the Olympic rings – the same colors as on Russia’s flag. At the Tokyo Olympics, a section of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was played for the winning athletes instead of the Russian anthem.
So why isn’t Russia really Russia at the Olympics?
World Anti-Doping Agency in 2019 forbidden Russia a punishment tied to a doping and cover-up scheme, one of the most serious in sports history, from participating in global competitions for four years.
Russia appealed the decision in 2020, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which had the final say in international sports disputes. suspension has been reduced up to two years. The court later lifted the ban, paving the way for Russian athletes unrelated to the doping scandal to participate as neutral competitors in international events, including the Olympics. largely symbolic.
The court also diluted several aspects of the anti-doping agency’s decision, like letting top Russian government officials can participate in global sporting events if invited by the president of the host country. (They are prohibited from doing so otherwise.) Therefore, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin is expected to attend the opening ceremony on Friday evening at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping after missing the Games in Tokyo last summer.
Russia’s ban from global sports competitions will expire at the end of this year.
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